


Be Still

by meganhamner99



Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Hurt, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:28:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22272574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meganhamner99/pseuds/meganhamner99
Summary: Injured and afraid, the deputy finds herself at the doorstep of the last person she'd expect herself to turn to for help.
Relationships: Joseph Seed/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 49





	Be Still

Everywhere she looked, there were butterflies flitting about. Their wings pumped erratically, carrying them through the air as they flew in circles around Rook’s head. In any other circumstances, she would call it pretty. She might even sit down in the dried grass and catch her breath as she watched the insects float around her. But right now, she couldn’t afford the luxury to sit in the middle of a field and take in her surroundings, or even stop to rest. She was hurt, cold, and terrified; she needed to get someplace safe as soon as possible. Rook had been debating hot-wiring a car, in fact she’d thought about it multiple times as the wind whipped against her skin, giving her a chill that ran deep to her bones. With the amount of butterflies and green haze clouding her vision, Rook knew she was more liable to get into an accident than safety with the amount of Bliss she’d been exposed to. So instead of borrowing an idle car from one of the many citizens of Hope County, she had just started walking.

It wasn’t until a small group of cultists had seen her, thankfully it was only about three or four, that Rook started to doubt her decision. 

“Catch the sinner!” One of the men hollered as Rook went from a slow, lame walk to a full-fledged sprint in seconds. Her legs flared with pain each time her boots hit the pavement but she had her sights set on a fallen log and was determined to make it to cover, no matter how much pain she was in.

Rook grunted as she dove behind the log just as shots started ringing out into what used to be a quiet night. She gripped her shoulder she could feel little grits of dirt entering a gash she’d acquired earlier on in the night, but she kept her back flat against the log so that she was protected by the rotting wood. 

Rook’s fingers fumbled over the clasp that normally kept her pistol holstered in place, but right now, as she struggled to undo the contraption, she felt like it was keeping her out. It was starting to frustrate her, and she couldn’t help but snort at the memory of John telling her that her sin was Wrath.

Once she had the pistol free, she clicked the safety off and poked her head out before firing off a few shots, hitting one of the Peggies in the arm, shoulder, then finally in his chest. One of the cultists’ shots landed near her elbow in the fallen trunk, so Rook quickly took cover again to regain her composure. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and she kept blinking to cry and clear the haze that seemed to be suffocating her. 

Under the effects of the Bliss, her aim was slightly off and she needed to compensate for it, but because everything was swaying and sparkling it was a challenge to determine how much compensation was needed. 

Rook closed her eyes, took a deep breath or two, then lifted herself back over the log to fire her gun once more. She tried not to think about the rocks digging into the cuts on her legs, the wood causing her shirt to scrape against the scratches and lacerations on her arms. She tried not to think about how her body ached with pain and exhaustion, longing for the soft comfort of a mattress, even if it was a makeshift one of blankets.

It took a few more tries of coming in and out of cover to finally finish off the three remaining cultists, but once they lay dead near their truck, the deputy gave herself a moment to sit and rest against the log she was hiding behind. From where she sat she could hear the Project’s music playing from the truck, and it was an eerie sound in the dead of the night when nothing else but the wind and rustling trees could be heard.

Before she decided it was safe enough to start moving again, Rook made sure to listen out for any more approaching vehicles or search parties. That was one of the more interesting aspects of the cult. When they sent out groups of Peggies to look for civilians wandering the land or missing members of the cult, they called themselves search parties. Searching for either poor unfortunate souls to bring into their fold or fellow friends either civilians or the deputy herself had put down.

From then on, the deputy moved whenever she determined it safe, making sure to avoid any street lamps or patches of light in general, main roads, and any other places where she was likely to bump into members of Eden’s Gate. She snuck through tall patches of grass, hid behind broken down vehicles, climbed into trees, or even laid down on the pavement acting as another casualty in the Seed family’s Holy War against Hope County.

After a while, her feet had started to carry themselves, sneaking around to keep their owner out of harm’s way as Rook made her way through the Henbane River and closer to somewhere very familiar to her. It wasn’t until she was leaning against a black wire fence with her fingers curled into the material that she realized where she’d led herself. Where in one of her biggest moments of fear, her mind thought she would find solace of some sort.

Rook followed the perimeter of the fence until she found the hole that she normally snuck through when she wanted to get into the compound undetected and couldn’t arrive by means of the water. Since it was so late, there wasn’t really anyone out and about on the compound. Normally there’d be guards as there was in the daytime, but if anyone wanted to try and take the compound in the dead of the night and risk waking all the people that resided there, you were considered dead the moment your foot crossed the fence line.

Rook didn’t bother creeping through the area once she was far enough inside. If anyone woke up to her presence they would just go fetch Joseph anyways, the cultists wouldn’t risk starting a fight so close to their homes and families. In the end, that’s one of the things the cult seemed to value above all: family.

Her boots crunched against the gravel, one of her shoes slightly dragging through the small rocks because now that the adrenaline had worn off, her body was beginning to hurt even more now. Oddly enough, it triggered an old memory of when she’d gone camping with some friends. The sound of her footsteps in the gravel was similar to that of when she’d need to slip away from the campsite to use the campground restrooms. She’d shuffle into her flip flops and zip up the tent, then her shoes would disturb the gravel as she walked too and from her campsite. That memory seemed to distant and like such a luxury compared to how things are now.

Rook found herself standing in front of two wooden doors and she raised her fist against them. Not so loud that she’d wake every single person within the compound, but loud enough to wake the person inside of it if he was indeed asleep.

The door swung open and the man standing in front of her was holding a candle holder, the small flame sitting upon the wax being the brightest light source between the two.

“Deputy? What are you doing here?” Joseph’s voice was soft and full of concern as he took in the sight of the woman before him. As his eyes searched her, he realized her appearance answered his question. Her skin, what was visible of it, was either littered with cuts or bruises and sometimes a mixture of both. Her eyes were slightly teary, either from the wind or emotional distress he did not know. What he did know, is that she resembled an animal that had been backed into a corner one too many times and had finally fought back, but was still scared out of her mind.

“I…I didn’t know…I didn’t know where else to go.” Rook tried to hide the tremble in her voice as she shrugged, her arms coming up to wrap around her stomach while her shoulders hunched up. Normally Rook was all sarcasm and wit, but now she had shrunk into herself and for a moment Joseph hardly recognized the woman before him.

“Please, come in. Please.” Joseph held out his arm for the deputy to hold on to as he stepped back into the house. Without hesitation, Rook looped her arm through his and curled her fingers around his forearm, deciding that she was going to take the support he offered and use him to help keep weight off her knees.

Once he had the doors closed, he led the deputy towards the back of the church. In any other situation, she would probably be a bit more worried that she was so secluded with Joseph, but she was too tired to care. Plus, the church had excellent heating because she could feel her fingers thawing out as they walked, or maybe it was Joseph’s touch. She didn’t know and quite frankly didn’t care.

He led her to a door that was slightly hidden by the angle of the wall and a bookshelf perpendicular to the door frame. Joseph made sure the deputy was balanced on his arm before opening the door, which led to a small room. Rook didn’t know what to expect, but she wasn’t expecting such a neat little space that no doubt served as Joseph’s living quarters a majority of the time. A desk sat against one wall, a small bookshelf underneath a window, and a sofa against the wall opposite Joseph’s work desk.

He helped the deputy into the room, leading her towards the sofa with a gentle guiding arm. His skin was warm underneath her fingers and she had to admit, it was heavenly compared to the cold she’d previously been experiencing.

“I hope that this will serve for decent accommodations while you recuperate, Rook,” Joseph aided her in sitting down on the sofa, making sure she was settled before walking back over to his desk and dragging his chair closer to the sofa. “May I ask why you came here? To my church of all places, deputy?”

As she got settled, she contemplated her answer. She straightened her legs before curling them into her body, the position aching at first but eventually feeling comfortable. Rook shimmied as she tried to settle into the cushions, the fabric faintly smelling of sandalwood and citrus.

“I…I don’t know. I was walking through the Henbane and I found myself here. I needed someplace to stay while I…I don’t know.” Rook curled into a ball on the sofa, but cushioned her head so that she could watch Joseph as she got comfortable. Her eyes were on him as much as his were on her, but it wasn’t the normal watchful gaze that a predator might share with its prey, but rather a gaze used for adoration.

Instead of responding to the deputy’s answer, Joseph hummed softly to himself and turned back around to work on sermons for the next week or so of mass. He only stopped when he heard the deputy clear her throat, then say his name. He turned his head to look at her, only to find her eyes half-closed and a slight smile on her face. Joseph wished it was wider than that, as he’d seen before, but he knew the deputy was in pain.

“Will you…do you mind laying with me?” Rook asked in a soft voice, one that Joseph rarely heard, but he nodded and got up from his chair before pushing it back under his desk. His bare feet were silent against the hardwood flooring, but the springs in the sofa creaked as he climbed onto it, taking his place behind the deputy. He rested his arm on top of hers, using the other one to trace gentle lines on her skin in an attempt to soothe her.

“Sleep my dear Rook, you’ve earned the rest.” Joseph’s voice was enough to lull her to sleep as she could hear him very softly singing one of the cult’s songs. Before long, Rook was fast asleep with a slight smile on her face as she snored, her fingers curled around Joseph’s arm as if she was keeping him there. “Goodnight Rook. I will always be here when you wake up.”


End file.
